


Aeon

by TheNillaWafer



Category: Persona 3
Genre: Aeon Social Link Spoilers, Borderline Smut (more symbolically referenced than anything???), Canon Compliant, Canon Continuation, F/M, Fluff, Light main plot spoilers, Social Links, more romantic than anything really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-16
Updated: 2018-04-16
Packaged: 2019-04-23 21:54:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14341695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheNillaWafer/pseuds/TheNillaWafer
Summary: January 2010, The Fall lingers on the horizon with just days until Nyx's foretold coming. Even if you believe certain victory is within your grasp, take time and make sure you tie up any loose ends while you still can...(Canon compliant/continuation of the optional Aeon Social Link, Rank 10 scene. Rated Mature pretty much because Atlus loves to make everything very awkward even in context and it's mostly all symbolic and allegory stuff if anything.)





	Aeon

****

She’s so hesitant, her circuits whirling and hot akin to that of human nerves. With every step deeper and deeper into the  _ chamber,  _ for that’s pretty much what it was: wires and breakers, no life and charm whatsoever to claim it as a livable  _ bedroom _ , Aigis finds it harder to brace herself to turn around and face him with this reality. 

But she does; she  _ has  _ to, for its a step of growth and trust between them, and the moment she faces him, Minato’s slate grey eyes pick themselves off the floor and bore into her gaze. 

It’s always so hard to read his expression, and yet, every word is spoken through his eyes. That’s not something Aigis should normally pick up on, however, she does, and shyly reassures him that the shells littering the floor are mere blanks; harmless, but another testament to her steel-souled existence. 

Minato, as usual, hardly falters and a soft, steady silence fills the air between them. Aigis has to peel her gaze away before she’s able to find her voice, “To be honest... I was hesitant to invite you here.” She can practically  _ feel  _ Minato’s attention focus onto her already, silently and steadfast. His figure his still,and relaxed in the corner of her vision, silently pressing for her continuation. “I have no heartwarming or pleasant decorations... It’s hard to believe that I once thought this room was normal...”

Another silence washes over them and now she sees him shift slightly in his posture. He’s about to speak; a habit of his she’s noticed over time. Perhaps it’s words of assurance, for Minato’s own room is quite bare and unlived, she recalls. Or maybe it’s words of truth: he’s a blunt man in terms of what he observes and what he believes. Yes, the room is unfit for human shelter and residence. 

Aigis never finds out, however, as she’s quick to interject. Regardless of what Minato wanted to say, she  _ wanted  _ to show him this. In a way, it’s acceptance, just in the way he’s accepted the path of his life. Aigis is a machine and she always will be; built of steel, circuit boards and synthetics. A fact that previously hindered her, now allows her to  _ live _ , as she begins explains with bright blue eyes and a flushed, overheating face, “...But, I figured something out. It’s something I can only say because I am unable to die.” 

The sudden euphoria seems to be contagious, as Minato now presses his own question with a softer, more inquisitive expression playing on his features, “What is it?” 

“I... will never leave you.” Her voice is soft, but it reaches him and Aigis watches with pounding pistons churning in her core as the corners of Minato’s lips perk up into the slightest smile and his gaze falters to the ground. It’s such a genuine expression that he hardly ever shows, where his fortified stoneface crumbles and a light of warmth seems to shine though, she wants the sight ingrained into her memory and burned into her data drives every time she sees it. “No matter how or when your life comes to an end... at that moment, I will be at your side. You will... remain in my heart.” 

It’s Minato’s turn to appear flustered, a slight, heated tint rises to his cheeks and his lips part to beaming, white teeth glimmering in a goofy, almost childish grin; an even  _ rarer  _ sight now and Aigis hurries her system to keep this image of him preserved forever. Normally, he’s a man of action; a silence that speaks louder volumes than any word he could muster but his voice peeks out skittishly and suddenly--soft and low but still smooth steady, “...You too, Aigis. Always...” 

There’s a comfortable stillness between them now. She swears if it could stay like this forever, she wouldn’t mind it at all. Aigis feels at what she would consider absolute peace right now, a perfect blend of love, respect and warmth and it’s certainly a feeling she could get much used to.

_ Oh...! Speaking of such... _

“Minato-san...” Aigis begins again as her slender fingers fish through the pocket of her skirt. After a moment, an almost unrecognizable piece of metal lies in her open palm, small specks of rust and char flake off at the slightest movement, “Will you accept this?” 

He takes a step closer with careful and observant eyes trained on the small offering, moving to pluck the damaged remnant out of the smooth casing of her hand. His fingertips are rough against her hand, but even with the sandpaper-like touch of worn, human flesh, they feel warm and light, fluttering along the sensors. 

Judging by his expression, Aigis figures, it would seem Minato doesn’t know exactly what he’s looking at. She begins, “It is... one of the parts that had to be replaced after I collapsed at the Moonlight Bridge. I asked Mitsuru-san to have it sent here.” Wordlessly, Minato’s expression falls from curious, to almost melancholy at the realization. That charred screw, it’s a painful remnant of the past and a dastardly reminder of the present. However, that’s not all. Aigis feels a slight whirl of she assumes must be pride coursing through her wires, self-growth. One mission failed alone was another engaged  _ together,  _ with new allies, with new friends,  _ with him.  _

It’s also a testament to the future. They  _ will  _ win.

She smiles lightly, “I have... changed, since then.” There’s a heavy weight of confidence in her words, something she felt had been previously lacking beforehand, “I’m not afraid, and I won’t give up... I’ll get back on my feet as many times as it takes... I’ll fight by your side and protect you... This is the proof... I wanted you to hold onto it.” 

Minato has no words, and Aigis isn’t surprised. His bright eyes still study and observe the tiny screw as it rolls restlessly at every slight shift of his palm. She thinks that he understands as well--it’s a screw, but more so, it’s physical proof of their journey, their battles and their struggles, their growth, everything they’ve overcome and challenged and  _ won _ . 

“It’s... a part of me.” 

Aigis’ voice is nothing short of a whisper, but those words let Minato finally shift quietly and steadily. His fingers curl around the charred metal and he moves to open the inner breast pocket of his uniform, tucking the gift away deep into the folds of fabric before turning back to face her. With a now freed hand, he pats the outside of his blazer, just around the school emblem and right atop where the charred screw sits safely within its nestled place-- _ so close to his heart.  _

Gods above, his smile is infectious and she can’t help but mirror his expression.  _ The thing that’s most precious to me... is to be at your side.  _

Minato is irreplaceable, as is any other human being, but there’s something settled within this fact that makes it feel so much more  _ different  _ than any other thought that has raced within her drivers. Perhaps it’s the course of fate that Aigis will never even begin to be able to wrap her head completely around; the simultaneous growth the two of them shared as he  _ showed  _ her how to live and she  _ guided  _ him through the truth. In all reality, neither one of them should have become so close to each other; Aigis  _ should  _ just remained a machine and Minato  _ should  _ have remained ignorant to his circumstances. 

And yet, here they were. 

Mere days, a handful of hours left until the Promised Day--the Fall,  _ The End,  _ and yet, Minato is defiant against fate. The childhood and the life that has been pillaged from him years and years ago is set to be reclaimed, and Aigis has every intention to fight alongside him--partly in apology, partly in solidarity, another part in wanting to be beside him to the bitter end,  _ whenever, however  _ that may come. He’s precious to her... because she  _ trusts  _ him.

_ She loves him. _

Minato’s dark blue gaze is scattered back around the room, carefully observing and analysing the bleak grey walls and the crackling server towers. Aigis suddenly recalls of a voice unexpected from earlier in the day, Junpei actually, mentioning about facing up against literal Death-- _ “Live with no regrets, right?” _

_ No... regrets...  _

In a matter of days, it could either be the end, or the beginning. It’s a bet, a dangerous gamble that not even Aigis’ advanced perception can undermine. She realizes, Junpei’s words are quite accurate, and now, she needs to find her voice yet again.

“I, um... actually have one more favor to ask...” There he goes, flickering those deep, unwavering eyes at her in full attention. Minato doesn’t shift or stir—a silent push to continue, she reads. “At the base of my neck, behind the knot of my ribbon... My most important component is located there. The source of the artificial psyche that makes me who I am... My emotional engine, the ‘Papillon Heart’.”

Aigis has to pause and allow herself to catch up to her processor that feels as if it’s twisting, crunching, and whirling in strange odd ways it never once had before. Across from her, Minato doesn’t once stir aside from his usual, calm stance—hands nestled calmly in his pockets, chest rising and falling with every breath like the edge of an ocean’s tide, face hardened and focused in a way that actually  _ calms  _ Aigis more than frightens her—it’s his usual, caring self. 

But he’s waiting, because he  _ knows  _ there’s more to what she has to say. 

With a soft sigh, she carries on, “It’s extremely delicate, so I am forbidden to expose it outside of the laboratory’s clean room. I... hm... I want you to touch it.”

It takes Minato a second, a lag between the words in his ears and the processors of his brain, before Aigis catches the subtle shifts, otherwise unnoticeable to the untrained eye. His hands jostle slightly in their nestled pockets, his hardened gaze suffers a minor fracture and his brow tightened just a fraction. He’s in thought, and for a moment, Aigis truly worries that perhaps the proposal wasn’t a good idea—that maybe it’s outside of Minato’s comfort level in which it’s something  _ he  _ doesn’t want. 

In truth, it’s very selfish of her, but she wants concrete, irrefutable proof of their bond; of the trust they share and the trials they’ve overcome together. What the charred screw is to Minato, the imprint of his DNA on her heart was to her, she assumed.  _ Perhaps... it is different for humans... a means of engaging in trust. _

...Regardless, even with tendrils of fear beginning to grip at her core, she wants this--she  _ needs _ this--more than anything right now. How can she get him to understand?

Aigis’ gaze is locked so tightly onto his own eyes, she’s completely blindsided by the sudden warmth that engulfs the hand lingering loosely at her side. Minato’s hand is rough, chapped and calloused with the many hours--the many  _ days-- _ of vigorous fighting through the winding halls of Tartarus. Even still, the soft motion of his sandpaper thumb over the surface scuffs and grooves of her knuckles is picked up by mere sensory receptors and she can only describe the feeling as...  _ peaceful. _

Minato doesn’t utter a single word during any of this, and another observation of the look in his deep, dark eyes takes of the place of any spoken language easily. Once calm shore waves that lapped calmly against the sands now seem to churn and grow livelier like stormy sea currents, growing choppy with passion and understanding. 

_ He wants this too.  _

_ We... We have a bond that will never be broken... _

“I’m... so happy...!” Her voice waivers with such giddy emotion, yet is hardly leaves her lips above a whisper. 

It doesn’t skip a beat with Minato however, as he inches closer, almost hesitantly, with a tight squeeze of her hand and resolution deep within his gaze. He looks... almost childish, in a sense. The contours of his face painted and presented in a way that feels so  _ authentic,  _ as if he’s finally allowed to be expressive again. 

_ Ah... _ The thought resonates with Aigis for a split second, for technically it was  _ her  _ fault that he’d felt devoid of the world around him all these years, the manifestation of death and destruction covering him like a rain-drenched blanket, but mindless whirling and hesitation melted and gave way to something bigger, better and brighter the moment she felt a warmth heat up on her lips. 

_...! _

It must have only lasted a second, a quick brush of Minato’s rough and dry lips against her own, but as the touch draws away, Aigis finally reels in the sudden shock and awe of it all;  _ her first kiss.  _ Her face flushed suddenly as internal fans clocked into overdrive, information zipping back and forth wildly in thin wired circuits. It doesn’t help that Minato doesn’t completely draw back in retreat; he’s so close to her, she feels a sensation brush against her nose and realize it’s his own, she feels his rough thumb still gliding over her hand and she can even feel his pulse surging through his veins in tandem with her internal motors churning. It’s quite a lot to take in, Aigis has to admit, for human emotions are quite a handful.

She takes a moment to collect herself and uses her free hand to find the arm of the chair behind her and guide herself into the comfort of the soft plush, never once loosening her grip on Minato’s hand. Aigis has never done this before, she doesn’t know what to expect or what will become of it. The uneven waves of uncertainty begin to creep up into her and it’s evident in her voice, “Since you’ll be coming into direct contact with my heart, I... I apologize in advance if I say something odd, or... um... make unusual noises...”

Something about this fact seems to startle Minato as his serious demeanor crumbles more obviously than he’d care to ever admit, and the edges of his cheeks grow bright scarlet in color. He doesn’t seem off put or disgusted by the statement, but rather just... startled, and it makes Aigis feel just a smidge less guilty about trying to suppress a small chuckle as a result. 

_ It is rather odd... I believe this is an issue humans experience too, no? It is not as simple to touch a human heart, however, as there is no accessible opening for such a prime component. Strange. Human biology is quite a unique subject... _

He’s still flushed in the face, eyes averted and just as hesitant, but nevertheless his thumb  _ still  _ draws circles into the smooth casing of her hand reassuringly. 

“As a precaution, I will cut off motor functions to my arms and legs...” Aigis can’t seem to look him in the eye. She’s reliant on the warmth of his hand and the mere detection of his presence, but it’s all too suddenly that the former departs and leaves a sudden draft of cool air in its wake. 

_ What are you--?! _

Suddenly, there he is having shifted so quickly to her line of slight, hands out and cupping her face lightly, as if the slightest pressure would break and shatter her into fragmental shards. “Minato-san, I--”

“I trust you.” He’d been so quiet this entire time, his voice suddenly startles her in the way of how absolute and concrete it sounded, “Don’t hold yourself back...” 

For a moment, Aigis feels as if she’s moving on autopilot. She smiles as her slender hands reach up to grab the lapels of his uniform blazer and pull him closer for another kiss, this time taking the initiative. It’s still a chaste motion, but this time there’s far more force and passion behind it, and while, in truth, she’s only going by what she’s learned from movies or books, from the culture she’s been thrown into, from the knowledge she’s absorbed, but regardless if any of it is accurate, it just  _ feels right.  _

When Minato finally pulls away, practically gasping for breath— _ Ah, yes... Humans need to breathe in order to live and to function— _ Aigis believes she’s found the courage to go through with this, to carry out her final favor in this fleeting free time they have. “Well then... Will you... untie my ribbon...?”

It’s a wordless conformation as he leans down, pressing his forehead softly to her own; the curve of their noses and the furrowed, focused knots of their brows mingling and fitting together  _ just right  _ like a pair of puzzle pieces. 

His feathery light touch trails down the edges of her soft cheeks, down to the ridge of her jaw and below at where soft silicone melts into cool, polished metal, only to hesitate briefly at the large, red bow. 

She can feel the soft tremors in his touch, otherwise so minute to an untuned sensor but Aigis is quick to pick up on it. “Minato-san.” Steel-blue eyes are captivated by the sudden call to attention as she continues shyly, but sincerely, “...I trust you, too.” 

She watches him let out a shaky sigh and simply nod against her, nimble fingers slowly letting the bright colored cloth come loose and fall at her shoulders. There, nestled deep in a small crevice lies a crystalline mass with jagged and untamed edges that appear daunting and powerful like the hardened armor shell she calls home, but Minato knows better, as the artifact shines and pulsates full of life and personality, really representing the finer, more beautiful aspects about her. 

Aigis has kept her promise, allowing herself to not be ‘held back’, as he’d put it, by keeping the functionality of her entire body on and she lets a hand trail slowly down the edge of his blazer. Pausing at the insignia on his chest, she feels the running cadence of his organic heartbeat drum away quickly but steadily. There’s also a small nub of hard edges outlined in the fabric, and Aigis suddenly remembers the charred screw from earlier, nestled as close to his own heart as humanly possible.  _ Though I cannot touch Minato-san’s heart, I... still feel happy being in this close proximity... I... I  _ love  _ it... _

“Are... are you ready?” His voice cuts through her thoughts like a sharpened knife and reels her back to the present. Aigis can only utter a soft conformation, an almost inaudible  _ yes  _ that carries the hardened weight of full sincerity on it’s feather light wings. 

There’s a beat of stillness before the crashing titlewave of  _ bliss  _ that seems to wash over her. A split millisecond is all it takes for everything to fall out of sync in a beautiful, pleasurable discord. Internally, the pistons in her motor falter and drum to a suddenly different beat, her circuits crackle and electricity currents in her wiring flow in all different directions--all in the span of just that brief, initial moment. As her grip on his blazer tightens and curls around the thick material, she can feel the grooves of his fingertips brush lightly against the fragile components; remembering,  _ soaking,  _ in the oils of his skin and burning into the core. 

It’s all so much to take in, and even with Minato’s cautious, grazing touch, to Aigis it feels as if her chest cavity is ready to overheat and just explode in a strange, ill-fitting way where she actually wishes to  _ yearn  _ for it. She’s trying to hold back and remain strong, but she slips and a garbled, euphoric cry slips past her lips, causing the other to retreat in panic, “A-Aigis, a-are you--Mh!” 

She doesn’t think about if it’s too out of line to initiate, but she cuts him off with a quick, hard peck of the lips. Only when she retreats back, does she melt back into her hesitant, shy state, “Ah, yes, I am... I-I’m sorry about that...” She’s hesitant, embarrassed to be in such a selfish position, but yet... she realizes there’s no need to be, not with Minato. “Um... P-Please... Keep going, it... it feels... nice...” 

He complies, and leans back down to pepper the corners of her lips with soft kisses, his fingers working to move along the rough surface of her heart tenderly. He’s so tender with his touch, caring and delicate, it’s amazing to think these same hands are the ones gripping the butt of his Evoker with white-hot knuckles during a fight or that these lips are the same as those that roar commands with utmost confidence and brute strength in the winding halls of Tartarus. 

Her breathes were already growing shallow, her ventilation airways seeming almost restricted with the chaos and mechanical anarchy festering within her system. It only heightens her to a sharp gasp as her sensors shut down for a split second, overwhelmed with the sudden flush of emotions and she reactions unsystematically, a hard  _ THUD  _ knocking into her. She’s come to awaken only a moment later to find a shocked, red-faced Minato pressed tightly against her in the chair, quite literally, swept off his feet and into her lap. 

“A-Ah! I’m sorry...! This... This is why I was going too--” Aigis never finishes her apology as the sound of laughter fills the room, warm breath heating up the metal plating of her neck. She feels the core of his frame, warm and heated, reverberate with the sound and listens as it bellowes up through his chest. Minato is laughing, a pure and sincere laugh that causes her face to flush and her Papillion Heart to glow even brighter.  _ It’s... It’s such a beautiful noise...  _

“It’s fine...” He mutters softly, letting himself calm down before shifting in his newfound seat to face her again. His own face, usually blank of expression, is so full of life now. The edges of his cheeks are heated intensely, his thin lips are perked into a goofy, crooked smile that even he can’t seem to contain, and his eyes are brimming and churning with giddy, honest excitement. 

Gods, she couldn’t be happier right now. Gods, she cannot believe she’s experiencing this right now. Gods, even under the most dire and horrific circumstances, she still cannot be thankful enough to have someone like Minato come into her life. 

...Gods, she hopes he feels the same about her. 

“I...” Aigis begins again, another thought now entering her mind. With her senses still tweaking out in overload, it’s difficult for her to concentrate. She begins to feel selfish. She just wants to remain close like this for as long as physically possible, as if they could simply let the world melt away and suspend the moment indefinitely. No more Shadows. No more of The Lost. No more of The Fall. No more Nyx. Just the two of them, suspended in endless peace and bliss. 

She owes it to herself, to the rest of S.E.E.S., to the rest of  _ humanity  _ and especially to Minato, to let go of her foolish pipe dream and move on. They  _ will  _ have to fight, and as much as Aigis feels in her core that they  _ will  _ win, there’s still that possibility of doubt. There’s still a chance of calamity and destruction and a terrible end. 

Just like in the movies, she wants to be the one to help spur the hero onwards. She wants to do something for him too. 

The charred screw simply isn’t enough. 

“Aigis... what’s wrong?” If Minato’s picked up on her shift in demeanor then she must not have hide her emotions well enough. 

“Ah, hm... Well...” She lets her hands drop to her side, tidal wave gaze simmering down towards the ground, “I would like to apologize to you, Minato-san. I... I am having such a wonderful time, I truly am! However, I... I simply feel guilty as I cannot return the favor to you in this time...” 

Minato shifts in his spot and furrows his brow curiously, “...What do you mean?” 

“...This... This feeling of... Bliss... Weightless euphoria... I want to share it with you... I...” The tint of his cheeks has already brightened to a even more heated level, it may as well singe the flesh. He understands what she means. “...I want you to feel like this too.” 

He’s jittery now, shuffling his weight from one knee to another awkwardly and Aigis can read the temperature of his core just exponentially rising higher and higher. While it’s true she can’t touch his heart, she has to figure there must be some component of that’s akin to her Papillion Heart--a hub of emotion or personality, or perhaps sensory oversight. Whatever it may be, she wishes to leave her mark as well.

Minato is nothing now but a flustered mess of grumbles and pensive grunts. He finds himself pulling back in their embrace only slightly to get a good, deep look into Aigis’ bright blue eyes, sunsoaked and cloudless like a beautiful summer day. “Heh, t-there’s really no... uh... no need...” He starts, a uncharacteristic falter in his voice, “You’ve done so much for me, Aigis, you... you really have. I just... I can’t appreciate it enough...” 

There’s no way he can mean that in its entirety. If it weren’t for her, he’d have a standard teenage life. He wouldn’t have to worry about The Fall or Nyx or the countless Shadows they’ve faced... If it weren’t for her, his could have focused his leadership in school clubs, sports or anything else he’d set his mind to; he’d have drive, motivation,  _ emotion  _ for the entirety of his life, and not just only a chunk of it. 

If it weren’t for her... his parents would probably still be alive. 

And yet, here he his, inches across from her tangled in a warm embrace and comforting her newfound worries.  _ If it weren’t for him... I would remain purely artificial... _

Minato isn’t here on obligation, he’s here because that’s what he chose. In a sense, it’s the same for Aigis now. She’s grown a passionate desire to be close to him from obligation, from duty. Now, they  _ both  _ get to walk through life with fresh new eyes, eyes that see all the colors of a rainbow and hands that feel all the textures they pass by. 

It’s her fault The Fall is upon them, but Minato disagrees. It’s  _ fate _ , the same cruel bastard that took his parents, that manifested Ryoji, that left him stumbling through life by a mere fraying thread for a decade, and that got him tangled up with S.E.E.S. 

However, he’d argue it’s also fate that led them back to one another after so long. It’s fate that she stood and waited for him on the beachfront. It’s fate that she could override the Chairman’s remote control. It’s fate that she couldn’t stop Ryoji alone that night, for now they could stand and fight  _ together _ , all of them, actually. They could fight, and they could  _ win.  _

“...I love you, Aigis.” It’s so sudden, his voice losses that hesitation from before and it comes swinging with hardened resolve, “Maybe, uh... when we win... and everything goes back to normal... we can, uh... celebrate...” 

“...Celebrate...?” 

He’s flustered himself again over his own choice of words, and it’s an indirect admission that he’s certainly not used to this kind of intimate conversation, but he continues quietly, “Uh... w-we’ll do something together... but... for now, I, heh... I have to admit, I like this right here, right now... by each other’s sides...” The components working in Aigis’ chest heave heavy with emotion and she lets out a content sigh. Minato’s right. They’ll win. There’ll be plenty of time in the future. But in a few days time, they’ll stand shoulder and shoulder and stare the embodiment of Death square in the face,  _ together _ . They’ll take the strings of fate they’ve been dealt and finally rip them to shreds,  _ together. _ They’ll overcome their hardest challenge yet and wake up the following morning to see the sunrise again,  _ together.  _ Minato shows no doubt in this vision, and neither does Aigis. 

She reaches out towards his uniform again, her palm resting over the small lump in the fabric, the charred screw, the remnant of her battered shell, resting thoughtfully against his pounding heartbeat--the part of her that resides and will remain within him. 

“...I love you.” He repeated softly, resting his forehead softly against her own.

“...I love you too, Minato...” 

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> (I have never played a game in which the final boss has given me such a stress-induced headache, that I need to put the controller down, turn to my laptop, and whip up this indulgent yet still decently wholesome shipfest to calm myself before going back at my 134351st attempt. Wish me luck!)
> 
> On a more serious note, I'm kinda surprised I didn't see more of this scene written or expanded upon anywhere, or at least here on AO3. Out of all the romancable social links, Aigis' really hit me the hardest. Okay sure, I'm a bit biased bc I love her to death, but no really, I really dig the unique and interesting connection these two share. No doubt I'll waste more time in the future and write more about them, whoops.
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading! :)


End file.
